Nephew of Michael Ibrahim spared prison after standing guard for syndicate
Michael Ibrahim‘s nephew Hasan, and his brother Abraham, have both been spared prison for standing guard at a warehouse full of black market smokes.
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The nephew of Michael Ibrahim will not spend any time in jail despite being convicted, along with his brother Abraham, of standing guard at a drug syndicate‘s warehouse containing millions of dollars of black-market smokes.
It was at the end of 2016 that the Australian Federal Police began closely looking at the activities of a Sydney identity.
Strikeforce Veyda would ultimately expand its scope to look at Ibrahim as it became clear “multiple syndicates” were working to smuggle tobacco and MDMA into Australia, the NSW District Court heard on Friday.
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An undercover operative befriended Ibrahim’s group with promises he knew of “a door” that could get the illicit products through the border.
The court heard Hasan Sayour and his brother, Abraham, were summoned by their uncle Ibrahim, the syndicate‘s “apex”, to a warehouse in Parramatta in July 2017.
Ibrahim, who the boys trusted, left them there for about three hours - they were guarding millions of dollars of cigarettes which, the court heard, the syndicate had picked up for cheap and were going to sell on a huge profit.
Later that month, the court heard, Hasan Sayour was present when his uncle paid the undercover operative more than $2m - prosecutors said Sayour had shown “wilful blindness” toward the bags of cash.
But Judge Dina Yehia SC was not persuaded that Sayour handled the money or knew about it.
She also didn‘t buy the police case that Sayour was helping his uncle thinking he’d be paid.
“(Police said) the offender understood assisting his uncle would be rewarded,” she told the court, sentencing Sayour on Friday.
“I cannot be satisfied the Crown has established, beyond reasonable doubt, that he was promised financial reward or engaged in criminal conduct expecting financial reward.”
“He participated out of loyalty to his uncle.”
The court heard the Sayours, now both young fathers and small business operators, were so loyal to their uncle because their own father had effectively abandoned them.
Their dad, the court heard, had taken out a $500,000 mortgage on his family home in Sydney and fled to Lebanon, leaving his wife and sons to foot the bill.
The boys became disenchanted with their father after he returned to Australia with a new wife.
They saw their uncle, by comparison, as strong and caring with unconditional love for them both.
“(Sayour) blamed his father for fracturing their family when they split up and gravitated to his uncle, a strong father figure,” the judge said.
Abraham was convicted and sentenced in February to 18 months in prison to be served in the community.
The court, at that time, heard the pair had guarded the syndicate‘s fifth shipment of 900,000 packets of cigarettes.
They had been imported from Dubai and were to be sold for $8 each.
At Abraham‘s sentence the court heard the street value of the fifth shipment was about $5.2 million, but The Daily Telegraph understands the total value of the tobacco, if it had been imported through proper channels, would be worth more than $11m.
Hasan was expected to face trial in June this year but pleaded guilty to dealing with property reckless if it was proceeds of crime and aid or abet Ibrahim dealing with the proceeds of crime.
The first charge carried a maximum of 12 years in prison and the second charge a maximum of three years.
Judge Yehia gave Hasan two years in prison to be served in the community on the condition of good behaviour. He was convicted and released immediately.